A Proud Mom

God gave my son brains, creative brains.  he loves Legos, Cartoon drawing and any kind of activity that uses pretend and the mind.  He has not one to be "into" sports although he'll play them because he wants to be on his friends teams and eat the snack.  For 2 years we have done Upward basketball which focuses on all the positive aspects of sports.  Encouraging each child to grow and have fun in the sport.  Last year he had an incredible coach, a 17 year old girl and her dad.  She was a great basketball player playing for her high school team.  He had a great season.  Not only improving in his ability but really gaining confidence in his ability.  He was able to score one basket all season with a free through shot.  He was much better at defense.  Sort of playing mental games on his opponents.  Well he had his first game today of this years season.  His team did great.  Especially playing together for their first time.  Out of 5 baskets they made, he got one!!!  yes, I was soooooo excited.  But really had to tone it down for the crowd, being from Calif. and all.  So, he had a great first basket, first game he also was awesome at defense, earned best offense because he was always getting open, grabbing some rebounds and he even tipped a few passes from the opponents.  All this and only one practice.  We missed one because of the holiday in OC.  So I am sitting here reflecting on the proud moment I had and best of all he knew he did good and was proud too!  I don't care if sentences are not supposed to end in too.  It sounds good! :)

Elf on the Shelf

So, it is a southern tradition for children to ask Santa for an Elf during the month of Dec.  It seems Santa is willing to part with one elf per family and in rare occasions more than one elf as his helpers, spying on little children and reporting back to him their good and not so good doings.  This is the real way he knows who has been naughty or nice.  Well, since the kids take the bus to school, they have been aching for a few weeks to leave Santa a letter requesting one.  Typically on Dec. 1st the elves arrive, but it can be any day before the 18th.  That is when Santa compiles his info for each child.  Well M. and S. wrote letters to Santa before our So. Cal return.  Come Dec. 1st they had crackers and milk waiting for the elf to come to our house.  As I headed to "Barnes and Noble" for a last minute errand , the kids were at home finishing their school journals from our travels west and getting ready for the next day of school.  You can imagine my extreme disappointment  when neither of them were finished, ready for bed or school and it was nearly 8:30pm.  I told them the note would have to wait for another night.  I couldn't have an elf here in my home causing ruckus and running amuck in the evenings if they were unable to complete their tasks in a timely matter.  It seems some elves are very mischievous, getting into flour, making snow ball fights with cotton, unrolling toilet paper through the house.  Who did they expect was going to clean the house after all these shenanigans?   It wasn't going to be me and obviously they had no time either since they hadn't completed their journals.  Well, when they awoke and saw that no elves had been delivered by Santa they realized they need to buckle down and take control of their responsibilities.  So the next night M. finished her journal and the night after S. his.   I am so curious to see what kind of elf Santa brings, what his/her name will be and what type of mischief it left.  I am interested to hear about the elves you may have, if any.  It seems the elves are  multiplying each year with more and more requests.

A Scared Child

Okay, so S. had scouts last night. Once a month is a pack meeting, Tuesday 6:30 - 7:30 and twice a month a den meeting. Same time, same place.   So last night was no different.  Other than the hubby was in town and we both had to vote (yes, again) and do a dry cleaning drop off.  So we all loaded into Yukon Cornelius(that bad boy) and dropped S. off at the church where his meetings are held.  I had it in my "sinus infected" head that it was a den meeting, in the usual room.  Had I  taken a minute to check MAC's wonderful "ical",  I would have realized it was a Pack meeting.  Yes, still at the church however, some sadistic pack planner thought it would be fun to have a bon-fire and sing Christmas carols in 33degree weather "outside".   So kisses to S., made sure he got in the room, voted (for the same people I voted last time for), dropped off the dry cleaning (which took a while) and headed back to the church.   John recommended we all go in.  As I filed myself and the female brood out of the car, I see S. coming out of the church doors.  That is not right!  The meeting is not over for 25 minutes, what's wrong?  As I get closer, I can see he is upset and says to me, "I 'm scared and really mad at you."   It took us a minute and a stranger in the lot, to advise us that cub scouts was in fact outside by the fire pit in the back of the church.  Yikes! My poor little fella was waiting in the meeting room and front lobby of the church for 30min. by himself, scared and mad!  Oh, it actually brought back memories of me waiting for mom, because she was late from work or something.  I am  sure many of you have similar stories.  Anyway,  I was so proud of him, he did not cry or panic until after we arrived.  Which tells me he most likely will be a fighter and that he can stay calm in emergencies.  He did as he should...waited where we dropped him off.  So instead of retreating to the back of the property for the bonfire we all head to Costco, yes, they have those here too(and Trader Joe's) to buy a Christmas tree(our first fake) and some ice cream.  Much deserved after that harrowing experience.  So, we decided it would be best if each week Mom printed our schedule and posted it in the pantry so everyone is better aware of what we are doing...not just me.  Of course the kids tried to use it as an excuse for a cell phone...NOT!!!